The annual mud volleyball tournament kicked off the homecoming festivities this past Thursday. The WC swim team divided up into three teams and achieved 4th, last and second to last places (coordination isn’t our strong suit!). The team showed their pride by wearing in their swim suits in the tournament.

“I had such a great time getting muddy and bonding with my team!” said sophomore swimmer, Colleen Rueppel.

The team carried on their homecoming plans to Saturday by hosting their first annual Alumni Swim Meet. Current swimmers and Alumni swam fifties of each stroke and relays to duel it out in the pool. A cookout followed the conclusion of the swim meet.

“It was great to not only see the alumni, but also swim with them again! It was just like the old days!” said senior swimmer, Rebecca Scherer.

Later that day, Wilmington College welcomed Kerri Fortman, the first swimmer, into the hall of fame at the homecoming football game versus Muskingum. Kerri was a 2003 graduate and still holds two records in the program.

In the first year of the swimming program, the team was allowed to compete in the OAC Championship meet before they were official members. At the time, the college competed in the Heartland Athletic Conference, that did not sponsor swimming, therefore they were not scored officially in the final heats of the OAC Championship Meet. If they had been official members, Kerri would have been the 3rd person in OAC history to win a single event in 4 consecutive years. To give you some perspective, the conference first recognized swimming as a championship sport in 1937.

“She has an amazing story and it was awesome to finally have a swimmer inducted into the hall of fame,” said Lisa Fetters, senior swimmer.

Wilmington College will host Defiance College as season opener Saturday October 19, 2013 at 1:00 pm.

For more pictures of the swimmers playing mud volleyball, please visit our photos tab.

Wilmington College has been rated as Ohio’s second safest four-year institution in a ranking system that examined 50 institutions based upon campus crime statistics.

StateUniversity.com utilized data from the FBI and Clery Center for Security on Campus in formulating its annual state-by-state and national rankings, which examined information from more 1,400 American colleges and universities.

In the state rankings, Wilmington College trailed only Fortis College-Cincinnati, which is not a residential institution.

The assigned ratings are based upon the criteria of: number of weapon occurrences, drugs, burglary, vehicle theft, arson, larceny, robbery, forced and non-forcible rape, murder and non-negligent manslaughter, and aggravated assault.

Sigrid Solomon, vice president for student affairs, said safety on campus is of paramount importance at the College.

“We are committed to working as effectively as possible in providing our students with a safe and secure environment for living and learning,” she said. “We want our students and their families to be assured that safety concerns are incorporated into all of our programming, as well as the campus infrastructure.”

“Also, students realize that, from the time they first enroll, there are explicit expectations for them to behave in a civil and safe manner, and with respect toward all individuals,” she added.

News of WC’s safe environment comes on the heels of the announcement earlier this summer that Wilmington College gained a top 10 spot in a ranking of Ohio colleges and universities with regard to the greatest lifetime return on investment.

AffordableCollegesOnline.org, a resource for college affordability and financial aid information, said graduates from these schools enjoy the largest earnings gap between non-degree holders, over a 30-year span.

Wilmington College placed in the top 10 in rankings of 44 colleges and universities in Ohio.

Wilmington College gained a top 10 spot in a ranking of Ohio colleges and universities with regard to the greatest lifetime return on investment.

AffordableCollegesOnline.org, a resource for college affordability and financial aid information, said graduates from these schools enjoy the largest earnings gap between non-degree holders, over a 30-year span.

In analyzing more than 300 Ohio institutions and ranking 44 colleges and universities, ACO selected Case Western Reserve University for the top position with Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan and the University of Dayton joining Wilmington in the top 10. SEE RANKINGS OF OHIO COLLEGES

“These are important lists for prospective students to consider,” says ACO founder Dan Schuessler. “We’ve sifted through comprehensive data sources to find colleges and universities in Ohio that offer a high quality education with consistent, long-term payoffs in the workplace.”

WC President Jim Reynolds was very pleased with the recognition. He believes the College’s blending of hands-on, experiential learning opportunities with the classroom experience results in more marketable graduates.

“The career success our alumni enjoy is a testament to the often transformative education they received at Wilmington College,” he said.

“More and more, prospective employers see the experiences students engage in outside the classroom — internships, field experiences, service, work, leadership development — as indicators of their future success,” he said. “Wilmington College excels at making these opportunities available to complement students’ work with faculty in the classroom.”

ACO developed the criteria for consideration as a “High ROI College” to include fully accredited institutions, either public or private, four-year schools, degree-granting institutions and a return-on-investment based upon PayScale’s 2013 College Value Report.

ACO compiled a list of schools meeting these criteria by using the data sets provided by the Carnegie Classification, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), National Center for Education Statistics and Payscale.com, the latter of which collects salary data.

Schuessler said Affordable Colleges Online provides prospective college students and their parents with information and resources to help them manage the cost of obtaining an education.

“We aim to educate so that potential students are aware of their options for obtaining a degree and, most importantly, for paying for one,” Schuessler added. “Our goal at Affordable Colleges Online is to keep our finger on the pulse of college-related issues, the latest research, how the government is responding, and helping students analyze their options.”

A shout out to the WHITE TEAM for winning this year’s Green and White Challenge! Now what is the Green and White Challenge, you might ask? It is our first annual, three week long team building activity, in which we are split up into two teams and compete for the ultimate prize: bragging rights!

Challenge #1: Photo Scavenger Hunt Challenge

We were given clues and had to run all over campus to take pictures of or find the answer. Winner: Green Team

Challenge #2: Water-Bucket Obstacle Course Challenge

Each team lines up with a bucket full of water at one end, and a table, baseball bat, and an empty bucket (spaced out) at the other end. The teammate closest to the water-filled bucket takes a cup, fills it, and passes it down the line until the last person receives it. Then they must go under the table, do five baseball bat turns, and put the remaining water into the empty bucket. Finally, they must run down to the beginning of the line, fill the cup, and pass it through, and so on and so forth.

Winner: White Team

Challenge #3: Puzzle Challenge

Teams must work with one another to put together a puzzle as fast as possible.

Winner: White Team

Challenge #4: String Challenge

Teams are given 30+ strings of various lengths and must tie them all together to form a giant string. Then they must spell out WC.

Winner: White Team

Challenge #5: Tire Challenge

For the final challenge, each team must flip a tractor tire down a straight away, carry it back (with every team member touching it), and then repeat it one more time.

Winner: Green Team

Feel free to check out more pictures of the Green and White Challenge on our Photos tab!